Close My Eyes Forever [Open]

[cardsharkgambit.livejournal.com]

He'd been avoiding sleep just like a lot of other people. But everyone had to sleep at some point. The body demanded it. There was only so long someone--anyone--could stay awake before the body, the mind, rebelled and gave in to its most basic necessity. There seemed to be no way of escaping the Nightmare King. Sleeping meant dreaming, which meant terror being inflicted upon them by the beast that grew stronger with passing day. Staying awake, however, brought its own dangers. The mind wasn't meant to be pushed to such limits. It needed to rest. It needed the time to recuperate. Without it, hallucinations would begin to form, driving them crazy just as easily as the Nightmare King was.

It was the hallucinations that pushed Gambit to go to his quarters and get some rest. He'd stripped off his plantsuit and climbed under the silk covers and was out before his head hit the pillow. It was not meant to last. Deep sleep had been evading him ever since he'd been released by GLaDOS. He sometimes wished she'd held on to him. Even she was better than this.

Remy had no more than fallen and sleep--only for a few minutes really--before the nightmares began. He thrashed in his bed, his body jerking back and forth as he tried to fight against the terrors being forced upon his dreams by the dark entity in the city. He groaned in pain, mumbled incoherent protests against the darkness that had pervaded his subconscious. Each movement, each groan grew in intensity, becoming stronger and more violent than the last until the Cajun's eyes flew open and he shot up in bed and let out a shout loud enough to be heard throughout the crew quarters.

He sat up in bed, his body covered in sweat and his chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. It was as if he'd just put himself through a grueling work-out. His muscles were tense and sore. Sleep, itself, had become an enemy that needed to be fought. But how did one fight that which you needed to survive?

Tossing his sheet back, Gambit swung his feet to the floor and cradled his head in his hands. "Get outta my head!" he hollered out at the Nightmare King.

Comments

[cardsharkgambit.livejournal.com]

He shook his head in response. "No. Ain't nothin' I can't handle. I just wish we could go in dere and get dat bastard already so I can get some some sleep for once. Dis nightmare stuff is gettin old."

[carbon-copy-man.livejournal.com]

"You mean it wasn't old to begin with?" he joked. Come on, he couldn't be the only person who had nightmares more often than not, right?

[cardsharkgambit.livejournal.com]

No, he wasn't. Not by a long shot. But Gambit still managed to sleep, even when the not-so-admirable things he done in his past decided to haunt his dreams. But with this...this made it next to impossible to even relax. He could no more than shut his eyes and it was like a horrific, guilt-ridden movie of his life flashed before him.

"Dis is different. Dis ain't natural."

[not-very-noir.livejournal.com]

Jamie shrugged. He hadn't been around very long and prior to arriving on Stacy, his dreams had been plagued by any number of nightmares, when he even managed to sleep at all. So he hadn't really noticed that much of a difference. Yet.

"If you say so."

Deciding to shift to a different topic, he asked; "So how many X-types are here anyway? I've met you and Bobby so far."

[cardsharkgambit.livejournal.com]

That earned Jamie a suspicious look. "What you mean? How'd you know I's one of de X-men?" This whole 'people knowing him or knowing about him when he didn't know them' thing was definitely starting to put Gambit on edge. Now he knew how Jean had felt when he approached her, expecting her to be the Jean from his world, only for her to not have the slightest clue who he was.

[not-very-noir.livejournal.com]

"I've heard about you from people," Jamie answered evasively. Or a dupe had gotten the intel. It was hard to tell sometimes.

"Not to mention you're a little distinctive," he added, tapping next to the corner of his eye. "And you mentioned Logan. I'm Jamie Madrox, by the way." The introduction was added more out of curiosity to see if the name meant anything to the other man than politeness, but Gambit could take it how he liked.

[cardsharkgambit.livejournal.com]

The name didn't mean anything to him. This Gambit had never met Jamie Madrox before. The professor, Cyke, Logan, Hank, and Jubilee had once, but Gambit hadn't been on that mission. All Jamie got in reply was a counter-introduction. "Remy LeBeau, but you can call me Gambit," the Cajun answered.